]]>h.ellison@bsg.org.uk (howard)frontpageMon, 27 Jul 2015 11:27:45 +0000Professor Chris Hawkey awarded UEG's Lifetime Achievement Awardhttp://www.bsg.org.uk/press/press-releases/professor-chris-hawkey-awarded-ueg-s-lifetime-achievement-award.html
http://www.bsg.org.uk/press/press-releases/professor-chris-hawkey-awarded-ueg-s-lifetime-achievement-award.htmlWe are pleased to announced that former BSG President and current Chairman of Core, Professor Chris Hawkey has been awarded UEG's lifetime achievement award for 2015. He will receive the award at the EUG Week in Barcelona in October. In receiving the award Chris’ influence on UEG has been deservedly recognised on a number of fronts:

His role in establishing the scientific programme of UEG Week, starting in 1997 in Birmingham, has shaped the quality of meetings today. Under his influence, a central scientific committee was set up which remains key to the way meetings are organised today.

His leading role in ASNEMGE promoted greater European collaboration and the creation of a permanent secretariat in Vienna. He helped lead the excellent Gastro 2009 Congress as the BSG president at the time, promoting key initiatives current in UEG today.

He was the mastermind of some of UEG’s most successful initiatives to promote young gastroenterologists, such as the Summer School, the Rising Star Award and the Young Investigator’ Programme.

His ground-breaking research has covered many areas of gastroenterology and he is still highly research-active.

He is particularly well known for his work on gastric protection against aspirin and NSAIDs and his work on IBD – the latter including recent work on stem cell transplantation and previous work establishing the value of azathioprine and anti-TNFα agents.

BSG member Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald and her team have developed a less intrusive but more effective way to sample the cells lining the oesophagus. This method uses the CytoSponge™, a compressed open-fibre sponge that opens up once in the throat and can be retrieved easily using an attached cord. The open texture and size of the sponge increase the probability of finding pre-cancerous tissue that might otherwise have been missed by more conventional endoscopic biopsy techniques. An additional benefit of gathering more tissue has been the ability to track changes in the cells that could indicate a change to cancerous tissue. Detecting these changes early is essential, because oesophageal cancer is very difficult to treat. [Professor Fitzgerald won the UEG Research Prize in 2014 for the project to develop CytoSponge™: "Combination of quantifiable genomic assays with a patient friendly non-endoscopic cell retrieval device called Cytosponge™ for management of patients with Barrett's oesophagus".] The BSG congratulates Professor Fitzgerald on her achievements.

]]>h.ellison@bsg.org.uk (howard)frontpageWed, 22 Jul 2015 07:21:49 +0000NHSIQ Productive Endoscopyhttp://www.bsg.org.uk/clinical/news/nhsiq-productive-endoscopy.html
http://www.bsg.org.uk/clinical/news/nhsiq-productive-endoscopy.htmlThe Productive Endoscopy Unit is a set of 'how to' guides to help staff make improvements in endoscopy services and meet the quality improvement elements of the Global Rating Scale, and accreditation of service. The series is endorsed by the Joint Advisory Group for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (JAG).

Based on the principles and methodology of 'Productive Operating Theatre' the series will help units to reduce waste through better workplace organisation; offering support processes; guidance for scheduling processes and improvement of information and patient flow - leading to reductions in errors and delays. The Productive Endoscopy Unit is available free of charge (one per unit) to all NHS endoscopy provider organisations and will be available from 1 April 2015. To pre-order your free copy, please fill in the details at the following link:

"The British Society of Gastroenterology welcomes the guidance from NICE on the use of vedolizumab in moderate to severe Crohn’s disease. It is extremely good news for patients suffering from this disabling condition. The introduction of anti-TNF therapy for inflammatory bowel disease over ten years ago revolutionised medical therapy for Crohn’s disease, but not all patients respond to these drugs, and some that do will subsequently lose their benefit. The availability of treatment targeting a completely different point in the inflammatory pathway offers hope for those who have primary or secondary loss of response to anti-TNF drugs, and who otherwise would be facing either surgery, or a return to high-dose steroid therapy. Vedolizumab works by blocking the passage of lymphocytes from the circulation into gut tissue, and may therefore provide a more gut-selective immunosuppression. It marks another step in the battle to restore the lives of Crohn's disease sufferers toward normality."

]]>h.ellison@bsg.org.uk (howard)frontpageMon, 13 Jul 2015 11:17:45 +0000BSG Prize Winners 2015http://www.bsg.org.uk/education/news/bsg-prize-winners-2015.html
http://www.bsg.org.uk/education/news/bsg-prize-winners-2015.htmlThe BSG congratulates all winners of DDF 2015 poster presentations, oral communications and the Endoscopy Dragons' Den for their hard work. Poster winners receive a certificate and £50; oral communication winners receive a certificate and up to £250. Endoscopy Dragons' Den winners were awarded on an individual basis. The names of the winners* and their respective categories are listed below. Abstracts are available by logging into the BSG website and using the Gut journal link.

Development and evaluation of the BSG Endoscopy YouTube™ channel: an official resource for education in the UK

*Shown above are prizes awarded by the BSG and BASL. Awards made by the other 3 Partners are not included here. Abstracts, posters and orals submitted to the BSG and BASL were scored by a joint panel from both Societies. Abstracts, posters and orals submitted to the other Partners were scored by the relevant Partner, except for colorectal orals, which were scored by ACPGBI by agreement. The BJS Prize is £600.

In 2013, the NHS in England underwent significant changes that introduced a new set of structures for commissioning and providing healthcare. The system of planning, delivering and funding healthcare services can seem complex, and technical terms are often used to describe commissioning and related issues such as contracting.

This practical guide, published by the Royal College of Physicians, is designed to help make sense of commissioning, contracting and related issues including the NHS payment system. It aims to help physicians in England to influence the way that patient care is planned and provided in their local area and nationally.

The Royal College of Physicians (London) has published the full report of the 2013/14 census of consultant physicians and higher specialty trainees in the UK. The census measures the number of consultant physicians and higher specialty trainees working in the UK, as well as gathering vital information about how physicians are working.

To accompany the full report of the census the Royal College of Physicians (London) are also publishing short reports and commentaries for each of the 29 physician specialties. These offer a more in depth look at the workforce in each individual specialty.

BSG alcohol health experts have responded to today's OECD Report by calling on the new Government to introduce a range of measures to address alcohol-related problems, which cost the Government £21bn every year.

Levels of alcohol consumption in the UK are above the OECD average and have increased during the last 30 years

The proportion of 15 year olds who have experienced alcohol increased from 71% in 2002 to 75% in 2010

In England, the heaviest-drinking 20% of the population drink almost 63% of all alcohol

The BSG has repeated calls for a range of measures to be introduced to address the current crisis, including the introduction of an Alcohol Care Team in every hospital in the country, the introduction of a 50p minimum unit price for alcohol and restrictions of the advertising of alcohol, particularly towards children.

"This Europe-wide report comes at a critical moment for Britain, and we hope it will act as an urgent reminder to the incoming Government of the need to introduce a range of evidence-based policies to address the crisis we face.

"We have made considerable progress in recent years by increasing the number of Alcohol Care Teams, but we need more service improvements and for the Government to introduce a whole range of measures to address the situation we face.

"Our A&Es and wards are under great pressure and it is no secret that alcohol misuse has a major part to play in this.

"There is not a family in Britain unaffected by alcohol misuse and taking action will save the NHS money and, more importantly, save lives."